Really like the personal touch on the right-left scrolling when writing out his Arabic and Jewish names, then transitioning to left-right for his Christian name. 👌🏽
@@juliasakowitz8274 well he did have one as Christians called him by that. I'm Jewish, I have a regular name, and also a name that is a bit different in English.
To say that medicine was Maimonides' "fallback job" is to misunderstand the Jewish context. Until fairly recently, being a rabbi was a part-time, unpaid position. Technically speaking, it isn't a position at all but rather a qualification, like a JD, that enables one to perform any number of duties relating to the practice of Jewish law. Some rabbis at this time were practicing professionally, but it was rare until the 19th century and Maimonides himself disapproved of it.
He had a saying regarding that אין לחם, אין תורה No bread, no Tora, If you can't provide for yourself and your family, you can't be a religious leader, only after you provide for the house can you start doing the religious stuff... If only the hassidics in Israel would learn that instead of sucking up all our tax money :/
Fun fact: Maimonides was the person who came up with "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Literally releasing a video on one of the most famous Jewish scholars of all time, the day after the holiest day in the Jewish calendar Yom Kippur and right before Shabbat, AND with grammatically correct Hebrew with proper vowel placement. Blue, as my rabbi would say, a very loud and boisterous MAZAL TOV to you!
Honestly you could just make a sub-series called "cool people in history" and we would watch it and you would not have to worry about making it fit a category like history makers.
@@kavky not really I prefer blue's style and attention to detail. I am not a fan of a lot of the people that jack picks for his videos (most of them are rulers who are also horrific mass murderers which he then plays for comedy).
whyd you have to go and make things so complicated? i see the way youre acting like youre somebody else. gets me frustrated. simply admit that i am the funniest and greatest and sm*rtest and coolest and strongest yout*ber of all time! admit it, dear his
Which says a lot about the man considering he was a Jew who grew up in an Arab Muslim ruled nation which is now controlled by Christians. Like is there anyone else that is so well liked across those three religions?
as a jew who lives in Israel, where we have streets and squares named after him, it's really neat to hear that there's appresciation for this amazing man in other places as well
If I had a nickel for every time an openly Jewish man named Moses found a warm welcome in Egypt after fleeing his previous homeland due to religious persecution, I would have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it is weird that it happened twice.
Except half the book is him calling you a dummy for not understanding right off the bat. Oh, you thought I was SERIOUS when I made that clearly bad argument 55 pages ago? LOL why aren't you well equipped enough to handle the true philosophy?
@@BradyPostma personally I'd try and read his book guide to the perplexed. It's a book trying to balance human reason and faith. For example, even though I'm a religious person. I studied chemistry in University. To me, the whole idea of a scientific universe is a pretty good proof of a creator. The system is too complex and interconnected to be just a random act (in my own humble opinion). Maimonides basically thinks along those same lines. But he's infinitely more eloquent than I am
I was about to ask the same question but I'm glad I've found a well detailed answer. As a non-Jewish guy very fond of Jewish culture I've always been interested in Rambam and particularly on his vision of a scientific approach to creationism.
@@BradyPostma As a lackadaisical Jew, I have to agree with Rafi. I have the Guide to the Perplex in my library, as well as his two book series The Commandments. You can't go wrong with The Guide to the Perplex. The Commandments isn't something I'd recommend to an outsider to start with, since it's the distillation of the Torah into 613 rules that form the basis of Jewish Law. While there's writings on universal things, like how the concept of both loving and fearing a supreme being in the same nature of a child loving and fearing their parents helps to ensure that a person will lead a good life and treat those around them well. But quite a few of those laws, like the rules of Kashrut (dietary laws), only apply to Jews. They're not bad reads for people interested in Maimonides, but definitely start out with The Guide to the Perplexed first. There are English translations available.
@@AccidentalNinja "they were here once, we borrowed some science and architecture, and then we kicked them out." I'm guessing this happens because the Portuguese Reconquista, in comparison with the Spanish one, was fairly quick.
In Portugal’s case though that does make a lot sense, since Portugal was founded by a group of English crusader teaming up with a Christian noble and capturing Lisbon. So, rather than Spain that is more of a Christian successor to the Muslim Al-andalous, Portugal was directly at odds with them from its founding. The Anglo-Saxon king aren’t really taught in England either. They were here. They beat the Celts. Norman’s came and still (technically) rule. The vikings and Even the Celts get more attention than the Anglo-Saxons. It’s a shame but also makes sense since, Norman Conquest and England is more the foundation of modern England
He's still considered one of the most important Jewish scholars of all time and is a household name in any Jewish community. Within Judaism he's as famous as Isaac Newton.
You're right - he is awesome. A few notes: 1) Actually, a lot of people had problems with his compendium of law because he DIDN'T explain where he was getting his sources from. He just assumed that you would understand how he reached that conclusion. 2) The story how he became a doctor: There was a rather arrogant world class doctor, so he pretended to be mute and then worked in the doctors home, watching as he treated patients. One day they brought in a person. The doctor wasn't sure how to treat him, (there was a worm eating at his brain, if I recall correctly) so the Rambam put a leaf at the edge of his skull and the worm crawled out and onto it. The doctor purportedly asked him "what are you doing - can't you see it's life and death" to which he replied "yes. that's why I'm acting now." 3) There's another story that king Saladin's advisor didn't like that his personal physician was Jewish. They forced Saladin to agree to a murder plot, where Saladin asked the Rambam to go to a certain brickmaker and ask him "if he did what the (king?) asked him to do," whereupon the brickmaker had orders to shove the first person who said that into a pit of lime. On the way the Rambam was asked to perform a circumcision on an infant, and was therefore delayed. In the interim, the advisor, in his haste to see the Rambam dead, asked the bricklayer if he did what the king wished to do, whereupon the advisor was shoved into the lime. When the Rambam asked the brickmaker if he did as told, he said that he had. The king was in a bit of a shock when the Rambam walked to the palace that day. 4) Richard the Lionheart purportedly asked him to be his physician. 5) The Rambam DID NOT say that much of the bible was allegorical. It's complicated, but he has very specific rules when something can be considered allegorical. 6) Nowadays, most people hold of other rulings on Jewish law than the Rambam, but he's far from obsolete. And most of the time many Jewish Philosophers hold the same rule most of the time. Sorry for the rant - I'm just really excited that this video exists. I've actually wondered if Blue would cover him. (The Ramban - Moses ben Nachman is also pretty cool. Look up the disputation of barcelona).
A few notes: Maimonides was an awesome figure of history, no doubt. There is absolutely no indication that stories 2, 3 and 4 ever took place. Especially 2) since medically it doesn't even make any sense. Follow Maimonides and stop aggrandizing and idolising his life and deeds...
I'll have to join the cpmmentator above me at least in part; you dictate folklore and legends as if they're absolutes - which they are not. There are plenty of peculiar Jewish stories about many rabbis, Rambam included, and there's no reason to belive them as the ultimate truth. Regarding 6, you are both right and wrong. Right in that Halachically speaking, outside of Yemenite Jews mostly no one goes by the Rambam on everything. Wrong because he still is one of the pillars of the Halacha - he's one of the Shulchan Aruch's three pillars, and the Mishneh Torah is one of the most basic books for Halacha study. In addition to that, most Orthodox Jews base their beliefs on his 13 principles - and it's not like everyone agreed with him on those. And yeah, Ramban is also cool, but I'm not sure how significant he was to general history, and I think he lived in the Christian part of Spain. He's very important for the history of Judaism, but... That may not be of much interest to non-Jews.
As an Iranian muslim, I really appreciate that you cover this part of history as well. Sometimes people forget that the dark age was actually the golden age for a huge part of the world.
@@ravid6167 glad to hear, I hope one day we muslims stop Sunni-Shia drama and love each other as muslims and humans. I hope Iran’s economy improves and people life’s improves.
Maimodies wrote the Mishne Torah with barely any cited sources or explanations with the goal of making everything short and simple to understand. The funny thing is, because of this lack of sources, commentary on Maimonides's Own Work has become a genre of itself, with tens or even hundreds of books written with the goal of finding his reasonings and digging deaper into his logic.
There is a great fiction book about him and Averroes/Ibn Rushd meeting called "the brotherhood of the awakened" on their shared love for the works of Aristotle.
Thank you so much for making this video! Jewish philosophy was one of my electives in high school, and we spent a whole year discussing just the introduction to a chapter of his Mishna commentary, and I’ve been fascinated by the man ever since. So cool to see him covered on this channel!
As some others have said, saying medicine was his "fallback job", while a good pun, is inaccurate to Judaism of the time. Most rabbis had a non religious job, and being a rabbi wasn't fully seen as a job but more a community leader Love the video, but slightly miffed at this lol
Its sort of surreal that i only put together 'Hey, Jesus was Jewish yknow' in my 20s. It was such a non-thing in my church (roman catholic) but its like... scrapping out huge parts of context about who he was...
He considered Muslims his oppressors and colonizers, and even made the bold claim that they were worse than the Christians in his Epistle to Yemen. He also said that he hated writing in the oppressor language of Arabic, but that he did so because he wanted the unlearned men of the Middle East's Jewish communities to understand him.
So I randomly clicked on a video so I could do something on my 30 min break at work besides silence. Didn't expect to be hyped to learn about a man I didn't know existed before I watched it.
Blue, thank you for making this video!❤ I'm Jewish and listening to someone (who I have no idea of their religion) talking positively about an important Jewish man, in an historically accurate way, and such positive and excited language- absolutely made me cry. And I mean ugly, emotional, HAPPY crying! Again, thank you!
Maimonides IS a history maker without a doubt. Maimonides (which is weird to call him that, most of us call him the Rambam) showed that the development of progress and technology doesn't go against Judaism, but enriched it. He basically created the fundamentals of a new Jewish school of thought and scripture. His works got all the way from the far east of India, to the west of Iberia, and all the way down south to Ethiopia all the way north to great Britain. He fundamentally united Jewish scholarship. To us, Jewish people, he is a worthy of attention figure that is amongst the ranks of Bismarck, Decartes and Cleopatra. I can't stretch this enough, almost every single work of Jewish scholarship has in it the dna of Maimonides' teachings, he is refrenced constantly and more frequently than the old testament some times. I am so grateful more people get the chance to hear about this important history maker. Thank you! 🙏
I think the history makers series has to be my favourite osp series of all time. I love that you take the time to introduce these people who are so interesting, and are not discussed. (At least in my education experience) I really love learning about these people, places, and beliefs that I never even knew I didn't know. (I hope that makes sense) I love the series. This was a great video as always!
I love Blue's and Red's passion for their subject. You can just feel it. Blue fan boying in this episode filled me with joy. Continue to stay awesome my dude
I learnt this story over and over again in school (religious Jewish one, of course) and books, but THIS made it actually funny. It's an interesting story anyway, but you made it fun too.
Thank you for an amazing video. Possibly my favorite video of the year. (As a Jew I'm biased.) Rambam is THe biggest influence on modern Jewish thought. The idea that God has not form? Rambam. The idea that God is all powerful and all knowing to a sense beyond human comprehension? Rambam. The thirteen points of faith mentioned in this video are said every morning. This man. What a Tzadik.
@Anjo da Justiça that's very interesting. I didn't know that. Thank you. Edit: I'm not sure what is going on, but I was notified of a reply that isn't showing up on the comment. I hope you see this
It’s good to see the Rambam covered by this channel. I’m a conservative Jew, and I can safely say that every learned Jew who I’ve ever met can wholeheartedly recommend reading his commentary. This includes myself, and I’m agnostic!
I'm an atheist Jew (I value Judaism as the traditional, cultural, philosophic, and historical body of work that it is, just without believing in god) and his work is absolutely a must read!
Explaining my agnosticism, it’s my opinion that if someone is to say that they believe in God, they must have something that they can point to as personal evidence. This evidence can be anything, as the point is to avoid blind faith and the pitfalls thereof. I do not have such evidence, therefore I do not believe.
This was rad. I freaking love how well you approach the intersection of Religion and History. You are also incredibly respectful of all parties involved. I don't think I ever would have heard of this guy otherwise and hot damn am I glad to know that such a person existed.
Please, please, please look into Eleanor of Aquitaine… I’ve been hyper focused on her since my History and Folklore class of the Middle Ages covered her… She is … Just… Wow. She married the king of France THEN had the marriage annulled, kept all of her land and money while doing so, then married the king of England and she got captured and imprisoned and survived through ALL of that. ALSO she is one of the main reasons Courtly Love became so popular and it’s STILL popular to this day! Every love song, story, or art that you know of with classic tropes? Yep, that’s courtly love! I went too far down the rabbit hole and I need someone to join me 😅😂
My goodness, Maimonides sounds like a great scholar and someone who left behind a great deal of wisdom for us to learn from. Than you very much for these videos.
For a good while after the Almohads, Christian Spain was actually the engine of Jewish thought. While it is true that Muslim countries were _somewhat more likely_ to allow religious toleration, there was no shortage of exceptions on both sides. The simplified narrative of "Muslim Spain good, Christian Spain bad" seems to date back to the 19th century, when Spanish Liberals in support of Queen Isabel II began extolling the virtues of the Sephardic Golden Age as a rejoinder to the ultra-conservative Carlists. Suffice it to say that for a good few centuries, Christian Spain had inherited Muslim Spain's legacy of toleration before gradually abandoning it due to complicated European power politics.
@@SamAronow It had also to do with Spain's desire to create a "pure" Catholic Christianity free from heresy and non-Christian deviation. Being a frontier Christian nation to the Islamic world probably had a lot to do with fostering a militant Catholicism among other things, but Isabel and Ferdinand were definitely the turning point monarchs in this regard.
@@SamAronow But interesting insight. There was a lot of revisionism going on for political and nationalistic purposes during the mass politics of the industrial age.
My grandfather, who was both a physician and a talmudic scholar, gushed about Maimonides all the time. It made me want to know more about his works, and doing that brought me closer to my grandfather. I knew Maimonides' works, but I never really knew his history. Thank you for sharing this- it makes so much of what my grandfather shared with me make even more sense.
I had to study his work for my Jewish confirmation when I was 15, never thought I'd hear about him again! I never got to hear about his life and background. Thanks for this video.
Yes! The Rambam (Maimonides) was an amazing person, I can't even begin with him. 1) Mishne Torah: A complete codex of every single law complied in the Talmud, written in clear, lucid language. Most Orthodox Jews today (myself included) learn this all the time. 2) More Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed): A treatise on philosophy, which was initially banned by Jews at the time for citing Greek thought, but now learned by Jews around the world. 3) Rambam's 13 principles of faith: The existence of God. God's unity and indivisibility into elements. God's spirituality and incorporeality. God's eternity. God alone should be the object of worship. Revelation through God's prophets. The preeminence of Moses among the prophets. That the entire Torah (both the Written and Oral law) are of Divine origin and were dictated to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai. The Torah given by Moses is permanent and will not be replaced or changed. God's awareness of all human actions and thoughts. Reward of righteousness and punishment of evil. The coming of the Jewish Messiah. The resurrection of the dead. 4) At one point he had access to the Aleppo Codex, which was partially destroyed in the 1940s. This codex was the oldest full copy of the Old Testament available. Older parts exist, but this codex is the oldest complete version. 5) Last one, I promise. His tier list for charity: listed from highest to lowest Giving an interest-free loan to a person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a grant to a person in need; finding a job for a person in need; so long as that loan, grant, partnership, or job results in the person no longer living by relying upon others. Giving tzedakah anonymously to an unknown recipient via a person (or public fund) which is trustworthy, wise, and can perform acts of tzedakah with your money in a most impeccable fashion. Giving tzedakah anonymously to a known recipient. Giving tzedakah publicly to an unknown recipient. Giving tzedakah before being asked. Giving adequately after being asked. Giving willingly, but inadequately. Giving "in sadness" (giving out of pity): It is thought that Maimonides was referring to giving because of the sad feelings one might have in seeing people in need (as opposed to giving because it is a religious obligation). Other translations say "Giving unwillingly." Sincerely, your average Torah Scholar and nerd.
@@John_Weiss well he did say that if Jewish people have to convert to other religion can convert to Islam because it is closer to Judaism than Christianity in a lot of aspects (Jewish people can even pray in a mosque if there is no synagogue near by because it follows all the recruitment )
Vive le RAMBAM de Memoire Bénite ! I would love to know his corpus of work but I am getting old and started getting serious about my studies just a few years ago. Keep the nerds going, my friend !
You may mention this, I just started the video, but one of my favorite facts about this man is that, although he didn’t believe women should study Torah, he didn’t have any sons and so trained his daughters in the scholarly bodies around Tanakh and and the Talmud. His daughters grew to be brilliant scholars that contributed a lot to Jewish thought as well.
People like Maimonides need to be taught about in schools. And not just history courses in college or the like, I'm talking "you need to know about this person" in schools long before that point 😊
This was one of the most enjoyable videos I've seen on your channel. I had heard of Maimonides many times but I never knew much about him, and this video taught me a lot. Also your enthusiasm about him made the story exciting!
There was a letter of his I remember reading a long time ago, about his daily schedule as a doctor for Saladin. TL:DR it was something like an 18 hour/day job helping all of the guys in court. So depending on when Francis was there, probably.
@@Gala-yp8nx more likely (if the event in the book actually happened), whoever treated Richard could have used medicines prepared by Maimonides. Don't know if Maimonides ever got to the Holy Land.
Oh, THAT'S where the name for the Andalusian horse came from!!!!! You learn know things every day! Just got back from my grandma's funeral, and this helped me feel a little better. Thanks Blue!
I consider him to be greatest man ever to live. While the first Moses is a spectacular myth, the second is Moses is an historical figure beyond imagination. The vastness of his knowledge, the deepness of his thoughts and the brightness of his teachings, all lead to clear and straightforward moral guidance to the ultimate goal of existence: Love. Maimonides was a philosopher of Love and Humility and he led by example. Just like the original moses, he was as closest to perfection a man can get.
"I had to stretch a little bit to make Maimonides count as a history maker.." you can go ahead and just rename this series "people in history i think are cool" Blue. none of us are going to argue with you.
currently is a unit on Judaism for my world religious traditions class and when the name Maimonides popped up i was like, "wait a second, i recognize that one! isnt there a History Makers video on him?" and immediately jumped over here to rewatch this! fun little brain break from just reading the textbook while still actually learning the stuff so thank you!
Fun fact that persecution thing the Al-Mohads did brought their doom and they were replaced with another berber dynasty The-Merinids who have the coolest flag, and were super friendly to the jews to the point they were in key government positions.
I had to turn on notification so I actually get this. For some reason your last two weeks of videos have not been shown up in my feed. Just a heads up. Love you guys!
Loved seeing this. Never clicked on a video so fast in my life. Great job, and I'd love to see more Judaic (and other abrahamic tbh) philosophers discussed on the channel!
Really like the personal touch on the right-left scrolling when writing out his Arabic and Jewish names, then transitioning to left-right for his Christian name. 👌🏽
i didnt even notice that, huh
had to check and dang that's an awesome small detail
It's the little things, really.
he's Jewish. he doesn't have a Christian name.
@@juliasakowitz8274 well he did have one as Christians called him by that. I'm Jewish, I have a regular name, and also a name that is a bit different in English.
To say that medicine was Maimonides' "fallback job" is to misunderstand the Jewish context. Until fairly recently, being a rabbi was a part-time, unpaid position. Technically speaking, it isn't a position at all but rather a qualification, like a JD, that enables one to perform any number of duties relating to the practice of Jewish law. Some rabbis at this time were practicing professionally, but it was rare until the 19th century and Maimonides himself disapproved of it.
Hi Sam love your channel really happy to see you here
He had a saying regarding that
אין לחם, אין תורה
No bread, no Tora,
If you can't provide for yourself and your family, you can't be a religious leader, only after you provide for the house can you start doing the religious stuff...
If only the hassidics in Israel would learn that instead of sucking up all our tax money :/
So like a Sunday school teacher. Or...Saturday school as the case would be.
What does JD mean?
@@erdood3235 Juris Doctor. It's a type of law degree.
Fun fact: Maimonides was the person who came up with "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
@@trajectoryunown Give a man a cabagge, he'll eat it. Teach a man how to cabagge and he's got a new skill
That's up for debate.
@@tomasavendanozacarias5205 nice, nice
Give a man a hoe then he will plow the land, give man a hoe then he will plow her too.
Idk why I made this weird comment
Appreciation for Blue's amazing year corner card thingies:
Flawless Disguise: 1148-1159
eeeeast: 1165-1168
Holy Land?: ∼1167-1168
Holy Banned
Exodusn't: 1169-1204
Begone, Fatimid: 1169-1174
Saladin for the Sala-Win: 1174-1193
very underrated aspects of these videos
I wasnt sure if that was "begone," like a command or "Begone" like "Antigone" (Bay-ga-nee?)
you don’t know how to do timestamps
Agreed, but I wish that each time I pause it to read everything, bits were not covered on the upper and lower magins by my 'pause screen' display.
Literally releasing a video on one of the most famous Jewish scholars of all time, the day after the holiest day in the Jewish calendar Yom Kippur and right before Shabbat, AND with grammatically correct Hebrew with proper vowel placement.
Blue, as my rabbi would say, a very loud and boisterous MAZAL TOV to you!
I wouldn’t be surprised if Red helped him, as she is of Jewish heritage on one side of her family
@@DavidbarZeus1 those cute little drawn faces are Red’s doing so I’m sure she had free input on this video.
@@DavidbarZeus1 Weren't they both Jewish?
@@zesky6654 I honestly don’t know. Red made it obvious thanks to her video on Hanukkah, but I haven’t heard anything similar from Blue
Honestly you could just make a sub-series called "cool people in history" and we would watch it and you would not have to worry about making it fit a category like history makers.
Jack Rackam has you covered
@@kavky not really I prefer blue's style and attention to detail. I am not a fan of a lot of the people that jack picks for his videos (most of them are rulers who are also horrific mass murderers which he then plays for comedy).
"A single candle can light a thousand more without diminishing itself"
- Hillel the Elder (הִלֵּל)
whyd you have to go and make things so complicated? i see the way youre acting like youre somebody else. gets me frustrated. simply admit that i am the funniest and greatest and sm*rtest and coolest and strongest yout*ber of all time! admit it, dear his
Dang, I haven't heard that one until now.
That's actually very inspiring.
That sentence is powerful
@@AxxLAfriku dude, don’t copy others; you have your own unique charm. Which I’m reporting for spam, as always.
But that's not true, because in the time it took to light 1000 candles, some of the wick of the original candle will have burnt up.
I live in Andalucía, and this guy's a local hero, especially as you get close to Córdoba.
Which says a lot about the man considering he was a Jew who grew up in an Arab Muslim ruled nation which is now controlled by Christians.
Like is there anyone else that is so well liked across those three religions?
@@mackenziebeeney3764 I can think of one or two...
@@blarg2429 Christians don't usually acknowledge Jesus was a Jew
@@derekskelton4187 True, but that's merely a failing of theirs.
as a jew who lives in Israel, where we have streets and squares named after him, it's really neat to hear that there's appresciation for this amazing man in other places as well
If I had a nickel for every time an openly Jewish man named Moses found a warm welcome in Egypt after fleeing his previous homeland due to religious persecution, I would have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it is weird that it happened twice.
To be fair, it's two more nickels than anyone would expect. Which kind of shows how awesome those two Moshe's are.
Dos vidana! You know in Spain that means two vidanas
There’s a phrase in Judaism about these two men: “From Moshe to Moshe, there is no one like Moshe!”
Hey, where's Perry?
Who is the other one?
"Guide for the Perplexed?" My man wrote the first For Dummies Book? Nice.
Just that in order to understand what he is talking about in that book, you need to get "Guide for the Perplexed For Dummies"
Except half the book is him calling you a dummy for not understanding right off the bat. Oh, you thought I was SERIOUS when I made that clearly bad argument 55 pages ago? LOL why aren't you well equipped enough to handle the true philosophy?
As an Orthodox Jew, he's my personal idol. All of my family and friends try to follow and emulate his ethics and law interpretations
Where would you advise an outsider begin reading about his life and teachings?
@@BradyPostma personally I'd try and read his book guide to the perplexed. It's a book trying to balance human reason and faith. For example, even though I'm a religious person. I studied chemistry in University. To me, the whole idea of a scientific universe is a pretty good proof of a creator. The system is too complex and interconnected to be just a random act (in my own humble opinion). Maimonides basically thinks along those same lines. But he's infinitely more eloquent than I am
@@rafisanders Thank you! I have great respect for those who find peace between religion and science, so that sounds like a perfect place to begin.
I was about to ask the same question but I'm glad I've found a well detailed answer. As a non-Jewish guy very fond of Jewish culture I've always been interested in Rambam and particularly on his vision of a scientific approach to creationism.
@@BradyPostma As a lackadaisical Jew, I have to agree with Rafi. I have the Guide to the Perplex in my library, as well as his two book series The Commandments. You can't go wrong with The Guide to the Perplex.
The Commandments isn't something I'd recommend to an outsider to start with, since it's the distillation of the Torah into 613 rules that form the basis of Jewish Law. While there's writings on universal things, like how the concept of both loving and fearing a supreme being in the same nature of a child loving and fearing their parents helps to ensure that a person will lead a good life and treat those around them well. But quite a few of those laws, like the rules of Kashrut (dietary laws), only apply to Jews. They're not bad reads for people interested in Maimonides, but definitely start out with The Guide to the Perplexed first. There are English translations available.
Maimonides, upon going to Egypt:
"Hi my name is Moshe-"
"NOT AGAIN-"
"Not that Moshe."
"Oh."
"from Moses to Moses there was none like Moses"
(And all of Egypt sighed in relief)
@@Grim_Sister and there was great rejoicing
Good one
Amazing! Portuguese Schools rarely teach us much about Muslim Iberia, so it's always amazing to learn more!
Really? In Spain they teach us about it
What schools do teach about Muslim Iberia?
@@AccidentalNinja "they were here once, we borrowed some science and architecture, and then we kicked them out." I'm guessing this happens because the Portuguese Reconquista, in comparison with the Spanish one, was fairly quick.
@@escudojoreg5194 It's a shame because I've heard that muslim culture remained fairly prominent in the south of Portugal for many centuries after
In Portugal’s case though that does make a lot sense, since Portugal was founded by a group of English crusader teaming up with a Christian noble and capturing Lisbon. So, rather than Spain that is more of a Christian successor to the Muslim Al-andalous, Portugal was directly at odds with them from its founding. The Anglo-Saxon king aren’t really taught in England either. They were here. They beat the Celts. Norman’s came and still (technically) rule. The vikings and Even the Celts get more attention than the Anglo-Saxons. It’s a shame but also makes sense since, Norman Conquest and England is more the foundation of modern England
He's still considered one of the most important Jewish scholars of all time and is a household name in any Jewish community. Within Judaism he's as famous as Isaac Newton.
I love hearing about Maimonides just because my mother worked a nurse at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, NY.
My first thought was that hospital!
Now you have a little understanding behind "The Man, The Myth, The Legend."
There is also hospital that named after him in Israel
Neat
I worked there too, in my 20's. I was an admin.
You're right - he is awesome. A few notes:
1) Actually, a lot of people had problems with his compendium of law because he DIDN'T explain where he was getting his sources from. He just assumed that you would understand how he reached that conclusion.
2) The story how he became a doctor: There was a rather arrogant world class doctor, so he pretended to be mute and then worked in the doctors home, watching as he treated patients. One day they brought in a person. The doctor wasn't sure how to treat him, (there was a worm eating at his brain, if I recall correctly) so the Rambam put a leaf at the edge of his skull and the worm crawled out and onto it. The doctor purportedly asked him "what are you doing - can't you see it's life and death" to which he replied "yes. that's why I'm acting now."
3) There's another story that king Saladin's advisor didn't like that his personal physician was Jewish. They forced Saladin to agree to a murder plot, where Saladin asked the Rambam to go to a certain brickmaker and ask him "if he did what the (king?) asked him to do," whereupon the brickmaker had orders to shove the first person who said that into a pit of lime. On the way the Rambam was asked to perform a circumcision on an infant, and was therefore delayed. In the interim, the advisor, in his haste to see the Rambam dead, asked the bricklayer if he did what the king wished to do, whereupon the advisor was shoved into the lime. When the Rambam asked the brickmaker if he did as told, he said that he had. The king was in a bit of a shock when the Rambam walked to the palace that day.
4) Richard the Lionheart purportedly asked him to be his physician.
5) The Rambam DID NOT say that much of the bible was allegorical. It's complicated, but he has very specific rules when something can be considered allegorical.
6) Nowadays, most people hold of other rulings on Jewish law than the Rambam, but he's far from obsolete. And most of the time many Jewish Philosophers hold the same rule most of the time.
Sorry for the rant - I'm just really excited that this video exists. I've actually wondered if Blue would cover him. (The Ramban - Moses ben Nachman is also pretty cool. Look up the disputation of barcelona).
A few notes:
Maimonides was an awesome figure of history, no doubt.
There is absolutely no indication that stories 2, 3 and 4 ever took place.
Especially 2) since medically it doesn't even make any sense.
Follow Maimonides and stop aggrandizing and idolising his life and deeds...
I'll have to join the cpmmentator above me at least in part; you dictate folklore and legends as if they're absolutes - which they are not. There are plenty of peculiar Jewish stories about many rabbis, Rambam included, and there's no reason to belive them as the ultimate truth.
Regarding 6, you are both right and wrong. Right in that Halachically speaking, outside of Yemenite Jews mostly no one goes by the Rambam on everything. Wrong because he still is one of the pillars of the Halacha - he's one of the Shulchan Aruch's three pillars, and the Mishneh Torah is one of the most basic books for Halacha study. In addition to that, most Orthodox Jews base their beliefs on his 13 principles - and it's not like everyone agreed with him on those.
And yeah, Ramban is also cool, but I'm not sure how significant he was to general history, and I think he lived in the Christian part of Spain. He's very important for the history of Judaism, but... That may not be of much interest to non-Jews.
i can't tell if you timed this video for the high holidays but either way it's a delight to see our boy
had the same thought when i got the notif! Perfect timing! :D
"Maimonides is the coolest" is an understatement.
If she really thought he was the coolest, she would respect his opinions on the Islamic civilization that she claims he's a shining example of.
@@leoraf2814 "she"?
@@jgr7487 Some time had passed between when I watched the video and when I wrote that. I usually watch the trope talks.
Glad I'm not the only one who says "¿Porque no Los dos?" In casual English conversation
After watching this video, The Guide for the Perplexed has become one of my most favorite book titles of all time.
As an Iranian muslim, I really appreciate that you cover this part of history as well. Sometimes people forget that the dark age was actually the golden age for a huge part of the world.
Assalamualaikum from Bangladesh. How’s life brother?
The dark age wasn't even a dark age in europe, just some parts of it were.
@@noukan42 True
@@None-do2qn Sister actually :) Everything is fine الحمدالله ^^
@@ravid6167 glad to hear, I hope one day we muslims stop Sunni-Shia drama and love each other as muslims and humans. I hope Iran’s economy improves and people life’s improves.
The fact that you've uploaded this right as Yom Kippur ended, is quite awesome! 😎
The Rambam's eight levels of charity still stand true today.
I love when Blue blows my mind with people I've never heard of. It helps start to fill in so many of the gaps in my history education.
It's so nice to see a non jewish person acknowledging how great Rambam is.
Yet another amazingly interesting person from history that I had no clue about, and need to read up on!
Spoilers: history contains a LOT of amazing people.
Legitimately a great night when this is uploaded at 1am when I should be sleeping
1AM AUSTRALIAN GANG (I'm assuming)
4pm here, damn you should sleep after the vid
Yeah I love staying up late
@@christianpetersen3563 AAY!
Maimodies wrote the Mishne Torah with barely any cited sources or explanations with the goal of making everything short and simple to understand.
The funny thing is, because of this lack of sources, commentary on Maimonides's Own Work has become a genre of itself,
with tens or even hundreds of books written with the goal of finding his reasonings and digging deaper into his logic.
Writing commentary on works of commentary is Judaism's favorite thing to do 😂
Well you know the saying: "two jews, three opinions."
“From Moses to Moses, none arose like Moses”
It Anyone is wondering where this was taken from, it’s a quote on his gravestone.
There is a great fiction book about him and Averroes/Ibn Rushd meeting called "the brotherhood of the awakened" on their shared love for the works of Aristotle.
Lol yeah two fanboys of Aristotle
This book sounds literally perfect!
@@dylanchouinard6141 I don't know if it was translated. Do you speak French?
@@al-muwaffaq341 Ibn rushed critisied Aristotle (rightfully so) because he found many wrong ideas in Aristotle medical theorys
@@arthurbriand2175 …no 😞
Never heard of this guy and I thank you blue for bringing him to my attention,time for some history
As a guy from Córdoba I must say that few youtubers, that I saw, talk about Al-Andalus and his philosophers. Good job :)
Thank you so much for making this video! Jewish philosophy was one of my electives in high school, and we spent a whole year discussing just the introduction to a chapter of his Mishna commentary, and I’ve been fascinated by the man ever since. So cool to see him covered on this channel!
As some others have said, saying medicine was his "fallback job", while a good pun, is inaccurate to Judaism of the time. Most rabbis had a non religious job, and being a rabbi wasn't fully seen as a job but more a community leader
Love the video, but slightly miffed at this lol
Can we bring that back?
"Token Jewish friend, Jesus"
This explains more about bigotry towards Jews than I'm comfortable with
Its sort of surreal that i only put together 'Hey, Jesus was Jewish yknow' in my 20s. It was such a non-thing in my church (roman catholic) but its like... scrapping out huge parts of context about who he was...
Most Christians refuse to acknowledge that Jesus was a Jew.
@@AoiLucine And Jesus wasn't white and African/ Asian, like it's obvious once you think about it but we just don't often think about it
@@Gala-yp8nx On the other hand, MANY Christians refuse to forgive "The Jews" for that.
@@AoiLucine Cultural appropriation?
That statue at 0:46 bears signs of having been patted on the beard so much it turned yellow
His shoes too
I was already familar with Rambam's philosphy, but beyond "lived in Islamic Golden age" I didn't know anything about his life. Thank you!
same here! so excited to have learned more
He considered Muslims his oppressors and colonizers, and even made the bold claim that they were worse than the Christians in his Epistle to Yemen. He also said that he hated writing in the oppressor language of Arabic, but that he did so because he wanted the unlearned men of the Middle East's Jewish communities to understand him.
@@leoraf2814why didn’t he just move to Christian lands, I mean they were right next door? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
So I randomly clicked on a video so I could do something on my 30 min break at work besides silence. Didn't expect to be hyped to learn about a man I didn't know existed before I watched it.
Welcome to OSP, where it's loaded with nifty stuff like this. :P
@@AegixDrakan lol, been following them for years. I usually stick to trope talk and stuff I'm already familiar with tho
Blue, thank you for making this video!❤
I'm Jewish and listening to someone (who I have no idea of their religion) talking positively about an important Jewish man, in an historically accurate way, and such positive and excited language- absolutely made me cry. And I mean ugly, emotional, HAPPY crying! Again, thank you!
I go to a orthodox Jewish school and we regularly go to Maimonides's commentary for clarification
I love learning new things, and Gregory's enthusiasm just makes it more of a joy. Thank you.
Maimonides IS a history maker without a doubt. Maimonides (which is weird to call him that, most of us call him the Rambam) showed that the development of progress and technology doesn't go against Judaism, but enriched it. He basically created the fundamentals of a new Jewish school of thought and scripture. His works got all the way from the far east of India, to the west of Iberia, and all the way down south to Ethiopia all the way north to great Britain. He fundamentally united Jewish scholarship. To us, Jewish people, he is a worthy of attention figure that is amongst the ranks of Bismarck, Decartes and Cleopatra. I can't stretch this enough, almost every single work of Jewish scholarship has in it the dna of Maimonides' teachings, he is refrenced constantly and more frequently than the old testament some times. I am so grateful more people get the chance to hear about this important history maker. Thank you! 🙏
4:15 “Their one Jewish friend quota was taken by Jesus” lmao love this channel
Can we just take a second to appreciate the glorious pun in "Exodusn't"?
You upload just before shabas enters which makes it perfect
I studied in Cordoba and this video made me SO SO HAPPY I cannot even tell you thanks for stretching your rules Blue!
I would love a second part, covering in greater detail what exactly he wrote.
Eh, I don't think everything he wrote needs to be covered. But maybe an episode on The Guide to the Perplexed would be welcomed.
@@jackielinde7568
_Everyone?_
*EVERYONE!!!*
The list of all the laws of Judaism
I think the history makers series has to be my favourite osp series of all time. I love that you take the time to introduce these people who are so interesting, and are not discussed. (At least in my education experience) I really love learning about these people, places, and beliefs that I never even knew I didn't know. (I hope that makes sense)
I love the series. This was a great video as always!
I grow up with Maimonides works, this feel nostalgic, nice job guys!
I love Blue's and Red's passion for their subject. You can just feel it. Blue fan boying in this episode filled me with joy. Continue to stay awesome my dude
I learnt this story over and over again in school (religious Jewish one, of course) and books, but THIS made it actually funny. It's an interesting story anyway, but you made it fun too.
The fact you "had to stretch" the definition of history maker is 100% worth it, had never heard of this Guy and learning about him is totally a pro
I hope we get an Over the Garden Wall Detail Diatribe for Halloween
Me too!
I personally hope that Red does a video on Werewolves.
@@luigiboi4244 i think she mentioned doing research on werewolves in one of the recent podcasts
Please keep talking about Egypt, Blue, you will find I’m not only not going to stop you but encourage you to do so.
Thank you for an amazing video. Possibly my favorite video of the year. (As a Jew I'm biased.)
Rambam is THe biggest influence on modern Jewish thought. The idea that God has not form? Rambam. The idea that God is all powerful and all knowing to a sense beyond human comprehension? Rambam. The thirteen points of faith mentioned in this video are said every morning. This man. What a Tzadik.
@Anjo da Justiça that's very interesting. I didn't know that. Thank you.
Edit: I'm not sure what is going on, but I was notified of a reply that isn't showing up on the comment. I hope you see this
The idea that God has not form, is all powerfull and all knowing to a sense beyond human comprehension, existed before Maimonide.
Words can’t describe how much I appreciate y’all
It’s good to see the Rambam covered by this channel.
I’m a conservative Jew, and I can safely say that every learned Jew who I’ve ever met can wholeheartedly recommend reading his commentary. This includes myself, and I’m agnostic!
I'm an atheist Jew (I value Judaism as the traditional, cultural, philosophic, and historical body of work that it is, just without believing in god) and his work is absolutely a must read!
Explaining my agnosticism, it’s my opinion that if someone is to say that they believe in God, they must have something that they can point to as personal evidence. This evidence can be anything, as the point is to avoid blind faith and the pitfalls thereof.
I do not have such evidence, therefore I do not believe.
I never expected a Maimonides video on this channel, but I am so happy there is one. You even pronounced his name correctly!
This was rad. I freaking love how well you approach the intersection of Religion and History. You are also incredibly respectful of all parties involved. I don't think I ever would have heard of this guy otherwise and hot damn am I glad to know that such a person existed.
'The Guide for the Perplexed' is one of the best book titles ever. 😎
Please, please, please look into Eleanor of Aquitaine… I’ve been hyper focused on her since my History and Folklore class of the Middle Ages covered her… She is … Just… Wow. She married the king of France THEN had the marriage annulled, kept all of her land and money while doing so, then married the king of England and she got captured and imprisoned and survived through ALL of that. ALSO she is one of the main reasons Courtly Love became so popular and it’s STILL popular to this day! Every love song, story, or art that you know of with classic tropes? Yep, that’s courtly love! I went too far down the rabbit hole and I need someone to join me 😅😂
My goodness, Maimonides sounds like a great scholar and someone who left behind a great deal of wisdom for us to learn from. Than you very much for these videos.
ever since I found out about al andalus and its loss, I shed a tear.
In my Jewish culture school, we spent a good month just on Maimonides, there is so much more to say, but good job summarizing.
Thank you for covering Maimonidies.
Maimonides, because of what he's taught, is *definately* a history maker! Not all history makers need to rule over or kill people.
“Long ago the 3 religions lived in peace…but everything changed when the Reconquista attacked”
didn't you just hear that the Almohavids did the same? Umayyad Cordoba wasn't the rule.
For a good while after the Almohads, Christian Spain was actually the engine of Jewish thought. While it is true that Muslim countries were _somewhat more likely_ to allow religious toleration, there was no shortage of exceptions on both sides. The simplified narrative of "Muslim Spain good, Christian Spain bad" seems to date back to the 19th century, when Spanish Liberals in support of Queen Isabel II began extolling the virtues of the Sephardic Golden Age as a rejoinder to the ultra-conservative Carlists. Suffice it to say that for a good few centuries, Christian Spain had inherited Muslim Spain's legacy of toleration before gradually abandoning it due to complicated European power politics.
@@jgr7487 it’s a joke lmao
@@SamAronow It had also to do with Spain's desire to create a "pure" Catholic Christianity free from heresy and non-Christian deviation. Being a frontier Christian nation to the Islamic world probably had a lot to do with fostering a militant Catholicism among other things, but Isabel and Ferdinand were definitely the turning point monarchs in this regard.
@@SamAronow But interesting insight. There was a lot of revisionism going on for political and nationalistic purposes during the mass politics of the industrial age.
When your life story sounds like someone’s super cool author self insert, you know your doing something right
My grandfather, who was both a physician and a talmudic scholar, gushed about Maimonides all the time. It made me want to know more about his works, and doing that brought me closer to my grandfather. I knew Maimonides' works, but I never really knew his history. Thank you for sharing this- it makes so much of what my grandfather shared with me make even more sense.
I had to study his work for my Jewish confirmation when I was 15, never thought I'd hear about him again! I never got to hear about his life and background. Thanks for this video.
Yes!
The Rambam (Maimonides) was an amazing person, I can't even begin with him.
1) Mishne Torah: A complete codex of every single law complied in the Talmud, written in clear, lucid language. Most Orthodox Jews today (myself included) learn this all the time.
2) More Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed): A treatise on philosophy, which was initially banned by Jews at the time for citing Greek thought, but now learned by Jews around the world.
3) Rambam's 13 principles of faith:
The existence of God.
God's unity and indivisibility into elements.
God's spirituality and incorporeality.
God's eternity.
God alone should be the object of worship.
Revelation through God's prophets.
The preeminence of Moses among the prophets.
That the entire Torah (both the Written and Oral law) are of Divine origin and were dictated to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai.
The Torah given by Moses is permanent and will not be replaced or changed.
God's awareness of all human actions and thoughts.
Reward of righteousness and punishment of evil.
The coming of the Jewish Messiah.
The resurrection of the dead.
4) At one point he had access to the Aleppo Codex, which was partially destroyed in the 1940s. This codex was the oldest full copy of the Old Testament available. Older parts exist, but this codex is the oldest complete version.
5) Last one, I promise. His tier list for charity: listed from highest to lowest
Giving an interest-free loan to a person in need; forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a grant to a person in need; finding a job for a person in need; so long as that loan, grant, partnership, or job results in the person no longer living by relying upon others.
Giving tzedakah anonymously to an unknown recipient via a person (or public fund) which is trustworthy, wise, and can perform acts of tzedakah with your money in a most impeccable fashion.
Giving tzedakah anonymously to a known recipient.
Giving tzedakah publicly to an unknown recipient.
Giving tzedakah before being asked.
Giving adequately after being asked.
Giving willingly, but inadequately.
Giving "in sadness" (giving out of pity): It is thought that Maimonides was referring to giving because of the sad feelings one might have in seeing people in need (as opposed to giving because it is a religious obligation). Other translations say "Giving unwillingly."
Sincerely, your average Torah Scholar and nerd.
Hmmm… some of those 13 principles of faith seem like jabs at a Certain Crucifixated Religion… 😉
@@John_Weiss well he did say that if Jewish people have to convert to other religion can convert to Islam because it is closer to Judaism than Christianity in a lot of aspects (Jewish people can even pray in a mosque if there is no synagogue near by because it follows all the recruitment )
Wh
Woa tzedakah is charity right? Islam has "shadaqah" it means the same!
Vive le RAMBAM de Memoire Bénite ! I would love to know his corpus of work but I am getting old and started getting serious about my studies just a few years ago. Keep the nerds going, my friend !
@@fatih1186 Yes Hebrew and Arabic are very similar
You may mention this, I just started the video, but one of my favorite facts about this man is that, although he didn’t believe women should study Torah, he didn’t have any sons and so trained his daughters in the scholarly bodies around Tanakh and and the Talmud. His daughters grew to be brilliant scholars that contributed a lot to Jewish thought as well.
Thank you for posting this in history class, my teacher showed it to us LOL
using a video i watched for fun, as inspiration for a university paper
yall are the reason im a history major
People like Maimonides need to be taught about in schools. And not just history courses in college or the like, I'm talking "you need to know about this person" in schools long before that point 😊
This was one of the most enjoyable videos I've seen on your channel. I had heard of Maimonides many times but I never knew much about him, and this video taught me a lot. Also your enthusiasm about him made the story exciting!
One of the greatest men of the Middle Ages!
Greetings from Greece. Just to say I love you sense of humor and fun way of exploring important topics❤
I think you guys could make a great (and probably hilarious) video or short about Hillel and Shammai’s famous disputes tbh
This video came out on my birthday! I’m taking it as a sign to learn more about Maimonides
"And he was Saladin's doctor!"
So according to some historical fanfiction he also treated St Francis of Assisi once? 😅
There was a letter of his I remember reading a long time ago, about his daily schedule as a doctor for Saladin. TL:DR it was something like an 18 hour/day job helping all of the guys in court.
So depending on when Francis was there, probably.
Similar could possibly done about Richard the Lionheart (see Walter Scott's The Talisman).
@@zvimur True. He likely treated Richard when he fell from his horse.
@@Gala-yp8nx more likely (if the event in the book actually happened), whoever treated Richard could have used medicines prepared by Maimonides. Don't know if Maimonides ever got to the Holy Land.
@@zvimur he is buried here at least currently (his grave is in Tiberius city and you can visit it)
Oh, THAT'S where the name for the Andalusian horse came from!!!!! You learn know things every day!
Just got back from my grandma's funeral, and this helped me feel a little better. Thanks Blue!
Mishne Torah also called "Ahyad Hahazaka" "The Strong Hand'
And it’s called that because the way you spell “hand” יד (yad) corresponds to 14 in gematriya which is a reference to the 14 volumes in that work
@@aislingbannett4450 Yep. I wasn't sure how to explain it in english
Everytime I play a paradox game (especially ck2 and eu4) I imagine Blue doing a video on the history I create
Maimonides is fucking awesome also the death of his brother is unbelievably tragic fantastic video Blue.
I consider him to be greatest man ever to live.
While the first Moses is a spectacular myth, the second is Moses is an historical figure beyond imagination.
The vastness of his knowledge, the deepness of his thoughts and the brightness of his teachings, all lead to clear and straightforward moral guidance to the ultimate goal of existence: Love.
Maimonides was a philosopher of Love and Humility and he led by example.
Just like the original moses, he was as closest to perfection a man can get.
Moses in not a myth and Jesus is far superior
"I had to stretch a little bit to make Maimonides count as a history maker.."
you can go ahead and just rename this series "people in history i think are cool" Blue. none of us are going to argue with you.
rambam has always been my favorite philosopher
4:28 I legit CACKLED. One of the best jokes I’ve heard in a while!
currently is a unit on Judaism for my world religious traditions class and when the name Maimonides popped up i was like, "wait a second, i recognize that one! isnt there a History Makers video on him?" and immediately jumped over here to rewatch this! fun little brain break from just reading the textbook while still actually learning the stuff so thank you!
Fun fact that persecution thing the Al-Mohads did brought their doom and they were replaced with another berber dynasty The-Merinids who have the coolest flag, and were super friendly to the jews to the point they were in key government positions.
Córdoba and Andalusia are some GORGEOUS places to find yourself visiting or living.
I very quickly replaced Blue's gushing of Maimonides with Vegeta's "He's so god damn COOL!" line in DBZA
Thank you for pronouncing Cordoba correctly, great video! ❤
I had to turn on notification so I actually get this. For some reason your last two weeks of videos have not been shown up in my feed. Just a heads up. Love you guys!
The Guide for the Perplexed reminds me quite a bit of Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses. Gregory would be a great spotlight for one of these.
"presumably, thier quota of token jewish friend was already filled by jesus" is such a powerful statement
Had to read his book for my philosophy class and it's great to know more about his personal life! thanks :D
Wises people like Maimonides make me proud of being Iberian
Loved seeing this. Never clicked on a video so fast in my life. Great job, and I'd love to see more Judaic (and other abrahamic tbh) philosophers discussed on the channel!